Abstract

This article shares my personal experiences using writing therapy after the death of my son. I found that writing some of my most traumatic experiences as fiction helped me acknowledge and process my grief but still maintain a protective distance from it. Fictionalizing my story also allowed me to look at my experiences in a new way. My goals in sharing this article are to (a) promote fiction writing as both trauma therapy and research method, (b) propose expanded and more humane bereavement leave, and (c) suggest social change in the way people respond to grief and the grieving.

中文翻译：

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虚构痛苦：通过小说写作处理悲伤

摘要

这篇文章分享了我在儿子去世后使用写作疗法的个人经历。我发现将我最痛苦的经历写成小说有助于我承认和处理我的悲伤，但仍然与它保持保护距离。虚构我的故事也让我能够以一种新的方式看待我的经历。我分享这篇文章的目的是（a）促进小说写作作为创伤治疗和研究方法，（b）提出扩大和更人道的丧假，以及（c）建议人们对悲伤和悲伤的反应方式进行社会变革.